Eat like a bird

The manacles around Ulv's wrists jangled softly as golden gauntlets - Punchinators, if Henrex ever kept track of things made in the Gotei - formed over her fists. Clenching them so she was sure they were good, she looked up at Henrex and grinned.
"I did a thing a while back and now my knuckles split open when I hit things. We don't all have crazy insane heal powers so we gotta be more practical about the solution. Now, to get down to business. First, no Zanpaktous. Or Demon powers, or anything other than your two hands. These golden gauntlets are more like wrist-wraps than anything else when it comes down to it.

What we need to deal with, is you. You've got a great deal of determination, you can push on to the end because it is your duty to push on, but you lack a fundamental aspect that will hold you back from reaching the top. A lack of Self. Confidence, Worth, Pride, Belief. You must possess these before you can truly hold a powerful mind. A mind that is stubborn because of duty and nothing else will find poor purchase when duty comes to an end. But one who believes in himself will only end when he does, at which point it is no longer needed"

Hearing the soft jingling of the golden gauntlets, Henrex took a brief look toward them -- seeing that she had either made new versions of, or retrieved her old set. The Punchinators, as Mirja had called them -- a name that still caused a smile to break out across the Captain's face. But, as she started speaking, he turned his head back to face her.

The rule of being entirely restricted to his hands, outside of being a very obvious statement that this would be training in Hakuda, was something that he found a little bit worrying. He hadn't really done much hand-to-hand combat in a long while, and having to fight without his sword would definitely be a hard habit to break. But, nevertheless, he complied. Waving a hand over the weapon at his side immediately caused it to vanish into his Inner World.

The next part of what she said, however, caused his expression to change.

"Pride's never been a big thing for me. The rest of them are...somewhat iffy. Self-worth and self-confidence is really finicky. I guess I've never really...felt like I've had the need for them. It just felt...strange for me, I guess.

"Pride, like Fury, is an important part of one's life. It is an emotion that allows you to feel enjoyment in what you do, feel worth in what you have done, and to fuel the desire to press on even when there is no reason outside of your own desire to do so. It is only a bad thing when you lose control of it, allow it to call the shots and you simply along for the ride. Self-Worth and Confidence are the same. There is a point when worth becomes narcissism, confidence becomes arrogance. But when controlled, they are emotions that grant you a drive to go forward for your own sake. It is this line between enough, and too much, that you must straddle"

Ulv then gave a Ulv Grin, the only indication that something was coming for him.
"You might not have a lot of experience straddling things, but if you would have let Ci teach you, then that wouldn't have been such a problem~" she giggled, and then in the inevitable blushing splutter that would come, rammed a fist into his face. It wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been, given Ulv's physical prowess and exceptional technique, but Henrex was still a squishy birb and so there might be some damage.

Rather than respond to Ulv's comments on pride, self-worth, confidence, and the other emotions and feelings that were an important part of having a strong will, Henrex remained quiet and processed all of this information. For him, it had never felt right for him to take pride in things. It reminded him too much of someone else he remembered...and he was worried that if he ever did take pride in what he did, it would be either seen as that, or worse, it would get the better of him.

As he turned his attention back to Ulv, taking note of the...unsettling (to say the least), yet signature "Ulv Grin" that she always seemed to have before something happened. He didn't know what would happen, he just knew that something would. But, before that, Ulv had to make a comment about him declining Ci Lan's...request. His face flushed red as he opened his mouth to argue, but didn't get anything out before receiving a powerful punch to the face.

Feeling his nose crack from the sudden hit and blown back by the force behind it, Henrex skid backward, digging his heels into the ground to slow himself as he groaned softly, straightening himself and bringing his hands up in a rather flimsy stance. Giving a few moments for his body to begin utilizing his regeneration in order to heal his cracked nose, Henrex held his stance -- however flawed and foolish it looked. It didn't take much to tell him that they were starting right then and now. So, fighting the urge to bring his sword back to him, or use one of the various techniques and abilities he had at his disposal, he kicked off the ground toward Ulv.

Closing the distance, he drew his arm back and threw a punch at the woman's chest, aiming for a rather obvious spot to attack on the body. While he had no doubts that Ulv had the ability and finesse to either block or dodge, he still would have quite a bit of force behind this hit, something that wasn't surprising for one of their levels of power. Thus, should this attack hit, there was a possibility of being able to crack bones should this attack be successful, as while Henrex was strong, he knew that Ulv had far greater strength and durability than he did, even with him being hesitant to use his full strength right then and there.

Squishy birb indeed. His nose went crunch from a 25% punch, which was kinda scary. She wondered what would happen if she hit him with her full power, but that was for later. For now, she needed to keep her head in the game and show him how to fight without a weapon. Because the time would come when he got up against something that stopped him from being weapony. The reason she had to keep her head in the game was that Henrex possessed a fair advantage on her when it came to raw speed. But something Ulv was going to show him, was that that was never the bee-all.

Twisting her body, and stepping off to the side with immaculate footwork, Ulv grasped the incoming arm, and then moved to place her other hand just above the shoulder, aiming to use his forward momentum to drag the attacking arm back and then painfully dislocate it with a most disturbing crunch.
"Never rush into an opponent. It leaves you open if they are suddenly not there. Close to your comfortable range and then begin the attack, or the attack will be used against you with less than describable results. Too much speed in a close quarters fight is as bad as not enough, because your momentum will be used against you"

Keeping his other arm close to his chest, Henrex hoped that her pivot would be something he could take advantage of -- despite him knowing her mastery of the Shinigami's hand-to-hand combat would likely lead her to attempt otherwise. As he stumbled forward from her dodge, he turned his head at the last second, watching as she swiftly twisted his arm.

Gritting his teeth as he felt the limb dislocate, the man let out a shaky breath as he put a hand on his shoulder, forcing it back in place and grunting quietly as he felt a small amount of pain from the action, taking a deep breath to calm the masochistic part of himself. Rising to his feet, Henrex took careful note of what Ulv said. There was a very apparent sense of embarrassment as he made such a novice mistake. It felt strange having to start at the beginning for something again.

But, even then, there was even more determination to keep going, to improve and break his limits and broaden his horizons. So, returning to the previous stance, Ulv would be able to notice the slight refinement to it. It still needed a great deal of improvement, but there was still that small touch. So, taking a step forward to close the much shorter amount of distance, Henrex stopped in his tracks, heeding what Ulv had said before.

So, bringing one of his arms to his chest again and drawing his arm back, he attempted the punch again, striking in the same general area, before switching and taking a step forward, quickly bringing the attacking arm back in order to keep Ulv from using his momentum and body against him. But, still making an error in the mix, he moved back too quickly. Again, Ulv would likely be able to note the lack of power behind this attack as a result. Thus, as Henrex returned to his base stance, he waited for Ulv's comments.

It still felt so awkward to go through the motions of Hakuda, and it still felt strange to be learning and honing something so different from what he was used to. In time, he would break these barriers.